Organizational resilience for better service delivery: The case of Ghana’s Electoral Commission

Abstract

Organizational resilience remains paramount to the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery by public institutions. This is because it allows organizations to effectively respond to and recover from crises and disruptions. By focusing on resilience, organizations can enhance their ability to withstand uncertainties, ensure institutional continuity, and sustain long-term success in a dynamic and unpredictable environment. These characteristics are fundamental to the success or otherwise of any learning organization, especially those deemed as guardians of democracies. In Ghana, the Electoral Commission (EC) is the main guardian of democracy and one of the leading institutions of elections in Africa and all developing countries. It has successfully conducted elections resulting in four successful turnovers in the last three decades (2001,2009,2017,2025). Nevertheless, the EC has faced a diverse array of challenges that have tested its resilience across various fronts. These include electoral violence and political vigilantism during voter registration and by-elections. Others include political interference in its work. But no other event challenged the EC as much as the COVID-19 pandemic, which required additional security measures and the adoption of reforms like continuous voter registration. In this study, we developed (from the extant literature) a theoretical framework for building resilient organizations and use it to study and analyze Ghana’s EC. This study will be beneficial to other Electoral Commissions in developing countries, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also be beneficial to all other public organizations that aspire to provide better and more efficient public services to citizens in a democracy.